Kawhi Leonard squeezed a game-high 23 points into 29 minutes, five teammates chipped in with double-figure scoring and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a 17-point deficit to thump the Golden State Warriors 114-101 on Monday night in San Francisco.
Coming off the bench in his Clippers debut, Darius Garland contributed 12 points to the win, which moved Los Angeles within 1 1/2 games of Golden State in their duel for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Brandin Podziemski paced the Warriors with 22 points, 20 of which came in the first half, during which the hosts built a 56-42 lead.
An Al Horford layup made it a 16-point game in the first minute of the third period before the Clippers flipped the switch and dominated the remainder of the contest.
Led by Leonard’s eight points and Garland’s five, the Clippers chipped away throughout the third period, getting within 79-77 by period’s end on the strength of a 35-21 burst that followed Horford’s hoop.
The break between periods changed nothing, as Los Angeles took advantage of its superior depth to take the lead for good at 82-81 on a Garland 10-footer. The visitors then gradually pulled away against a Warriors team that had just 10 players available, including two recent call-ups from the G League.
Leonard shot 9-for-14 and also found time for eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Clippers, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back.
Kris Dunn backed Leonard with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and a game-high seven assists for Los Angeles, which took a 2-1 lead in the season series against Golden State with one head-to-head remaining.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser was the visitors’ leading rebounder with nine and also one of their four reserves who scored in double figures with 11 points, joining Garland, Bennedict Mathurin with 17 and Jordan Miller with 12. The Los Angeles backups outscored their Golden State counterparts 52-41.
Nate Williams had 18 points off the bench for the Warriors, who were once again missing Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Kristaps Porzingis, but on this night also without Gary Payton II and Will Richard.
Al Horford added 17 points and Moses Moody 10 for the Warriors, who got a game-high 11 rebounds from Gui Santos.
